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ALx Series

Air Cooled Linear DC Electronic Load

Linear MOSFET Electronic Load
Wide Full Power Operating Range

The ALx Series utilizes conventional linear MOSFET-based dissipative elements, allowing the series to achieve a very wide voltage-current operating range within the model’s maximum power rating. Using the same heat management innovations developed for Magna-Power’s high density programmable DC power supplies, the ALx Series’ conservative cooling ensures long product life in environments up to 50 °C ambient operating temperature.

Resources

Key Features

MagnaLINK™ Distributed DSP Architecture

Magna-Power’s MagnaLINK™ technology provides distributed Texas Instrument DSP control across power processing stages inside the MagnaLOAD DC electronic load. This technology follows a significant internal development cycle from Magna-Power to provide a unified digital control platform across its electronic loads and power supplies, featuring fully digital control loops, adjustable control gains, programmable slew rates, function generation, and many new advanced control technologies.

Many Control Modes

To accommodate a variety of DC sources, all ALx Series MagnaLOADs come with several distinct control modes, including: Voltage Mode, Current Mode, Power Mode, Resistance Mode, and Shunt Regulator Mode. Preference for DC regulation is given to the parameter in the selected mode within the programmed set-points. Using the MagnaLOAD's set-points and trip settings, the product can configured to either trip with a fault when a limit is exceeded or to cross-over into a different regulation state.

Shunt Regulator Mode turns the MagnaLOAD into a high-speed smart braking resistor, engaging the DC input only when a specified voltage and exceeded by a user-defined percentage, while limiting the shunt current to a programmed set-point.

Digital Master-Slaving: Expandibility Without Compromise

This is a planned feature that will be available via a future firmware update.

All MagnaLOADs come standard with a MagnaLINK™ Input and a MagnaLINK™ Output port, which provides plug and play digital master-slaving. Simply connect the master's MagnaLINK™ Output to the slave's MagnaLINK™ Input and the MagnaLOADs will automatically configure themselves for master-slave operation based on the populated ports. Buffered digital MagnaLINK™ connections means many MagnaLOADs can be daisy-chained in master-slave operation.

The internal MagnaLINK™ protocol was developed with expandability at the forefront. When configured for master-slave operation, the master controller takes control of all the slave's digital "targets." With this digital master-slaving strategy, it is completely transparent whether the unit is operating as a stand-alone product or in master-slave.

Extensive Programming Support

All ALx Series MagnaLOADs come with a dedicated National Instruments LabVIEW™ driver, Interchangeable Virtual Instrument (IVI) driver, and support for a wide range of Standard Commands for Programmable Instrumentation (SCPI). These programming interfaces support full control, measurement, and monitoring of the MagnaLOAD. All of the MagnaLOAD's available communication interfaces are supported by these drivers and command sets, including: USB, RS485, LXI TCP/IP Ethernet, and IEEE-488 GPIB.

Showcased in the following basic code examples, SCPI commands provide the simplest form of communication by using plain ASCII text and parameters sent over a basic socket connection. Over 50 commands are provided, with detailed documentation in the ALx Series User Manual.

Configurable External User I/O

Beyond the front panel and computer controls, all MagnaLOADs come standard with a 25-pin D-Sub connector designated as the External User I/O. This connector provides :

8 Digital Outputs

4 Digital Inputs

4 Analog Outputs

4 Analog Inputs

All the analog-digital I/O ports are configurable, allowing the user to select which parameters they want to control and monitor. This configurable I/O scheme reduces complexity, eases PLC integration and allows control parameters from various interfaces simultaneously.

Integrated Arbitrary Waveform Generation

This is a planned feature that will be available via a future firmware update.

All MagnaLOADs provide four user programmable arbitrary waveforms. Each arbitrary waveform can consists of up to 1024 points, each point with the following settings:

Voltage, Current, Power, and Resistance Set Points

Time Period

Rise and Fall Slew Rates

Stop, Loop, or Jump-to-Point Setting

With the integrated arbitrary waveform generation, the MagnaLOAD can easily be used to provide a wide range of user-generated waveforms including step load transitions or pulsed DC loading.

MagnaWEB Software Interface

Magna-Power's next generation software interface, MagnaWEB, provides intuitive and user-friendly web-browser based controls for programming and measurement read-back of the MagnaLOAD's activity. Virtually all of the MagnaLOAD's available functions can be controlled and monitored from the MagnaWEB software over any of product's installed communication interfaces.

MagnaWEB uses a server-client software model to provide access to the MagnaLOAD from nearly any device and operating system. Install and run the MagnaWEB software locally on Windows, OSX or Linux and, using a web browser, access the server connected to the MagnaLOAD from a variety of devices including other desktops, tablets or smart-phones.

Designed and Manufactured in the USA, Available Worldwide

MagnaLOADs are designed and manufactured at Magna-Power's vertically integrated USA manufacturing facility in Flemington, New Jersey. Heat-sinks and chassis are machined from aluminum. High-power resistor modules are fabricated and rigorously tested. An automated surface-mount production line places components on printed circuit boards for control, auxiliary power, and display circuits. And finally after assembly, products undergo comprehensive test and calibration, followed by an extended burn-in period.

Models

There are many possible configurations for the ALx Series product. Using the following ordering guide and models chart to define the best model for your application.

Model

Maximum Power

Maximum Voltage

Maximum Current

Package Type

ALx1.25-200-300

1.25 kW

200 Vdc

300 Adc

Rack-mount

ALx1.25-500-125

1.25 kW

500 Vdc

125 Adc

Rack-mount

ALx1.25-1000-37.5

1.25 kW

1000 Vdc

37.5 Adc

Rack-mount

ALx2.5-200-600

2.5 kW

200 Vdc

600 Adc

Rack-mount

ALx2.5-500-250

2.5 kW

500 Vdc

250 Adc

Rack-mount

ALx2.5-1000-75

2.5 kW

1000 Vdc

75 Adc

Rack-mount

Operating Profile

With its sole use of linear elements for heat dissipation, the ALx Series has the widest operating profile of the MagnaLOAD products. This operating profile figure applies to all ALx Series models, normalized about the model’s maximum voltage, current, and power ratings.

Specifications

AC Input Specifications

AC Input Voltage 85-265 Vac, 1-phase

AC Input Frequency 45 Hz to 440 Hz

External User I/O Specifications

Digital Input Voltage 5 V

Digital Input Impedance 10 kO

Digital Monitoring Voltage 5 V, 32 mA capacity

Digital Reference Voltage 5 V, 20 mA capacity

Analog Programming Voltage 0-10 V

Analog Input Impedance 10 kO

Analog Programming Resolution 12-bit, 0.025%

Analog Monitoring Voltage 0-10 V, 3 mA capacity

Analog Reference Voltage 10 V, 20 mA capacity

Provided Reference Voltages 5 V, 10 V

Interlock Input 5 V

Programming Specifications

Current Resolution 16-bit, 0.0015%

Voltage Resolution 16-bit, 0.0015%

Power Resolution 16-bit, 0.0015%

Resistance Resolution 16-bit, 0.0015%

Environmental Specifications

Operating Temperature 0 to 50 °C

Storage Temperature -25 to 85 °C

Humidity (Non-Condensing) = 95%

Altitude Up to 10,000 ft (3,000 m)

Air Intake (All Models) Front

Air Exhaust (All Models) Rear

Connectivity Specifications

USB Host (Front) Standard, Type B

USB Host (Rear) Standard, Type B

RS485 (Rear) Standard, RJ-45

LXI TCP/IP Ethernet (Rear) Optional, RJ-45

IEEE-488 GPIB (Rear) Optional

MagnaLINK™ Standard, RJ-25 x 2

External User I/O Standard, 25-pin D-sub F

Physical Specifications

The size of ALx Series MagnaLOADs vary according to the product's maximum power output rating, in accordance with the following table:

Control power switch, energizes the control circuits without engaging DC bus

6

LED indicator that the DC input is enabled

7

Full control (host) front panel USB port

8

Clean air intake, with integrated fans

9

Aluminium digital encoder knob for programming set-points

10

LED indicator of the MagnaLOAD's present regulation state, which can include: constant voltage (CV), constant current (CC), constant power (CP), or constant resistance (CR)

11

Selector buttons to choose which set-point the digital encoder knob and digital keypad buttons will modify.

12

MENU: Enters the menu system on the 4-line display

BACK: Moves back one level in the menu

ENTER: Selects the highlighted menu item

CLEAR: Removes the product from a faulted state

LOCK: Locks the front panel, with password protection available

Dimensions

Front Side Dimensions All Models

Rear Side Dimensions All Models

Side Dimensions All Models

How to Buy

For the fastest product and pricing information, please complete the form on the rightbelow and the Magna-Power team will address the request immediately.

Build-time

Magna-Power products are made-to-order with build-times that vary depending on the model's maximum power rating. Current build-time schedules are as follows:

All ALx Series Models

8-10 weeks

Sales Partners

In the USA and Canada, Magna-Power sells it products directly from the factory, with a nationwide network of technical representatives. Magna-Power products are available available worldwide through direct sales offices and authorized distributors. Requests from this form will either be quoted directly or automatically routed to the appropriate sales partner for quote.

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